Perchlorate of the Oxide of Ethule, §:c. 63 
pny E¥: nadie the Betehdactta of the Oxide é ee or Per- 
. chloric Ether ; by: Onane ‘Hane ond: Menrne H. Boye. 
Read before the American Philosophical Society, Dee. 4, 1840. 
Tue energetic properties of perchloric acid, and its stability 
compared with the other compounds of chlorine with oxygen, 
led us to the belief that this acid might be combined with the 
substance which performs the part of a base in that class of or- 
ganic salts which are generally designated by the name of ethers, 
and for which Berzelius, in consequence of his theoretical views, 
has adopted the name of oxide of ethule. For this purpose a 
concentrated solution of perchlorate and sulphovinate of barytes, 
in equivalent proportions, was subjected to distillation. The 
sulphovinate of barytes may be considered as a double sulphate 
of barytes and the oxide of ethule; and we anticipated that, 
when heat was applied, adouble decomposition would take place 
between the latter and the perchlorate of barytes. So long as 
the salts remained in solution, no reaction occurred, but as soon 
as they became solid in consequence of the distillation of the 
water, a reciprocal decomposition ensued, and a sweet ethereal 
liquid distilled into the receiver. This. — is the nesuseeees 
of the oxide of ethule. 
As this substance is enjechetiqeiaebiedistii it is necessary in or- 
der to prepare it with safety, to operate on smal! quantities. We 
have employed from seventy to ninety grains of crystallized sul- 
phovinate of barytes, with an equivalent proportion of perchlo- 
rate of barytes ;* but we would recommend, especially on the 
first performance of the experiment, the employment of consid- 
erably smaller quantities. The salts should be intimately mixed 
ina mortar, and placed in a small retort attached to a refrigera- 
tor containing ice, and a receiver similarly cooled. The retort is 
to be heated in an oil-bath, in which a thermometer is suspended, 
S80 as to indicate the temperature. A wooden sereen, furnished 
eensings covered with thick plate-glass at such intervals as 
i The. amount of barytes in the perchlorate should be ascertained by an experi- 
ment, as it retains water with great tenacity. It may be worth while to mention, 
that the perchlorate of potassa cannot be substituted for the perchlorate of barytes, 
since the sulphovin is decomposed without acting on it. We were equally un- 
successful in an attempt to procure the ether by the distillation of perchlorate of 
barytes and concentrated sulphovinic acid. 
